


Getting Warmer

by sunalso



Series: Sun and Gort Do Kink Bingo Spring 2019 [17]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blanket Fic, Camping, F/F, Huddling For Warmth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-31 10:57:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18589861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunalso/pseuds/sunalso
Summary: College AU. While collecting data for a class project, Bobbi ends up in an icy river and then Jemma’s arms. One of those things is better than the other.Beta'd by Gort.





	Getting Warmer

**Author's Note:**

> _A/N: If you skipped the tags: this is a femslash fic!_

Jemma wrung her hands together. “Be careful!” she called.

“We’re going to get an A, I promise,” Bobbi yelled back. They were both third-year bio majors and had shared a lot of classes, a fact Jemma was certain she was far more aware of than Bobbi, but this group project had paired them together for the first time. Her usual partner, Fitz, had been assigned a project with another student that had to do with insect numbers and powerlines. Jemma was entirely sure Fitz’s purpose was to keep the other student from accidently killing himself.

Which seemed to be her purpose when it came to Bobbi, as well. They were looking at algae die off as winter approached, which required a lot of sampling from streams. This was their last collection trip, but up in the mountains there was already snow and frost which was making everything more challenging.

Bobbi was on a rock, reaching out with a collection container into a stream where there was still running water that wasn’t iced over. The sky above them was a dull grey that promised snow, and the spindly trees that lined the creek had already been stripped of their leaves by the wind.

Jemma held her breath as Bobbi, blonde hair sticking out from under her knit cap, reached out from her precarious position and dipped the container into the running water. She got the sample, stood, and capped the cup before tossing it to Jemma, who heaved a sigh of relief.

Bobbi laughed. “I’m fine.” She took a step towards the shore. Her eyes went wide, and Jemma dropped the container in her hands as Bobbi gasped and fell. The crack of the ice as she hit was sharp, and then there was silence as the water closed over her head.

Jemma screamed and ran, but before she’d gotten two steps, Bobbi was standing back up and wading to shore. The water wasn’t that deep, and Jemma’s heart started beating again, but then her survival training kicked in. They were on an overnight camping trip in the backcountry where temperatures were already below freezing.

“Hurry,” Jemma said, holding out a mitted hand, which Bobbi grasped with pale fingers. “We have to get back to camp.”

“Cold,” Bobbi whispered, her teeth chattering.

“I know, but we’ll get you warmed up. It’s not far.” Jemma winced at the forced cheer in her voice, but it wasn’t a long hike at all, only about ten minutes.

Ten long minutes of Bobbi’s lips going blue and her shaking even harder.

At the camp, which wasn’t more than a tent with a rain fly and a circle of stones with a small campfire set in a gap between pines, Jemma knelt beside the embers of an almost cold fire. She pulled kindling from a pile, added it to the coals, and willed it to burn. “Strip down,” she instructed Bobbi. “Everything. I’ll grab a blanket from the tent.”

The kindling caught and crackled, sending sparks up into the air. Satisfied, Jemma added a larger log and hustled to the tent. She grabbed a couple of fleece blankets, but her emergency thermal blanket wasn’t with the rest of the supplies. Bloody hell, what had happened to it?

She backed out of the tent and turned, blankets in her arms, and nearly fell over. Bobbi was standing with her back to the fire, completely naked. She was still shivering, but that was a good sign. It was when someone was cold and stopped shivering that things were bad. Jemma held one of the blankets out.

“S-s-sorry I’m not Fitz,” Bobbi chattered out.

Jemma snorted. “He would have fallen in much earlier.”

“I mean the being naked part.” Bobbi sighed as she wrapped the blanket around her.

“Ah,” Jemma said. She helped Bobbi sit down on the other blanket and tuck it around her legs before returning to feeding the fire.

Darkness was closing in around them, stealing what little color the sky had.

Bobbi leaned towards the warmth of the flames. “It might be because I’m mostly frozen, but I thought you’d be much more thrilled to have a naked Fitz.”

Jemma hesitated. The curves of Bobbi’s body were already etched perfectly into her memory, even if it was during a survival situation. That should be enough, but it felt like it wasn’t. Jemma needed Bobbi to know. “Um, actually, I…Fitz and I are good friends. Best friends. We’ll probably work together forever, but we’re not like that. Neither of us is like that.” She turned towards Bobbi, but Bobbi’s face was blank.

“Oh,” she finally said.

Jemma sighed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it weird. Just ignore me and my poor timing. We should focus on warming you up.” Her stomach felt heavy. Well, that was that. Probably for the best. Crushes on straight girls never ended well. Jemma fed the fire and put water in a pot. Heat from the inside would help Bobbi a lot more than awkward sexual orientation discussions.

With the fire built up, Jemma made hot chocolate, and Bobbi’s happy noises as she drank soothed Jemma’s riled feelings.

Halfway through the mug, Bobbi reached out and poked Jemma’s shoulder. “You didn’t make it weird.”

“As I said, don’t mind me. Are you feeling better?”

“Some. Warmer. I should be apologizing. You told me it was a bad idea to lean that far over the river.”

The fire crackled cheerfully. “Honestly, it worked fine. It was when you stood up that there was a problem.”

“You know me and my human urge to walk upright.” Bobbi looked into her hot chocolate. “And seriously, you didn’t make things weird. So stop worrying.”

 As if Jemma knew how to do that. Ever. “Honestly, you know me and my amazing ability to relax.”

Bobbi laughed. “There’s a lot of things to worry about right now. Coming out to me isn’t one of them. I actually really appreciate it.”

Jemma nodded. The long lines of Bobbi’s neck were graceful as she tilted her head back to finish off her drink, and Jemma wished she could lean forward and lick her pale skin.

“Hey!” Bobbi said, and Jemma jumped. She hadn’t been staring that hard. But Bobbi wasn’t speaking to her; she was staring up at the sky. A fat snowflake drifted down to land in Jemma’s mug, where it rapidly melted. Another handful landed in Bobbi’s hair.

“We need to get in the tent,” Jemma said softly as more and more flakes fell around them. She heaved a few more pieces of wood on the fire, knowing it was probably a lost cause. The snow would put it out eventually. Bobbi was already tucked inside their shelter when Jemma turned around, and she hurried inside herself, kicking her boots off after she was sitting on the nylon floor and setting them beside Bobbi’s wet ones, which were only going to freeze overnight.

There was a flashlight in Bobbi’s hands, and she trained the beam on the tent door as Jemma zipped it shut.

“I’ll get the fire going in the morning,” Jemma said as she stripped off her jacket. “And we’ll dry and warm up what we can of your clothing. It’s less than four hours out to our jeep.”

Bobbi nodded, and Jemma set a bare hand on her arm, meaning to be comforting. Only the chill of Bobbi’s skin made her yelp.

“You’re still freezing!” Jemma said.

Bobbi shrugged. “It’s be expected.”

Jemma shook her head. Too cold, Bobbi was far too cold. From their supplies Jemma took out several hand warmer packs and opened them, leaving four for tomorrow along with the toe warmers.

“We need to heat you up,” Jemma said. “And this is going to sound like the gayest thing ever, but sharing body heat skin to skin with all the blankets around us is probably the best bet.”

Bobbi nodded. “Okay, your turn to get naked. I’ll rearrange the bags.”

Jemma tugged off her clothes, gasping when the cold air of the tent raked over her nipples. Bobbi gently pushed her to the side as she layered the sleeping bags and blankets. She finished by tossing the heat packs into the bottom of the bag. Lying down, Bobbi scooted over and held up the edge of the comforter for Jemma.

Trying to keep her hands to herself, Jemma wiggled over until her front pressed against Bobbi’s. She had to bite her lip to keep from moaning as Bobbi settled an arm around her and put one of her absurdly long legs over Jemma’s. Their breasts were smashed together, and it was still arousing even though the entirety of Bobbi felt like a block of ice.

“You’re so warm,” Bobbi said while stroking Jemma’s back.

Jemma did her best not to arch into Bobbi’s hand. Instead, she curled a lock of Bobbi’s almost dry hair around her finger, then uncurled it and curled it again, over and over, refusing to think about much else as Bobbi got ever so slightly less ice-like.

“Sorry I’m not taller,” Jemma said after a while. “I could warm you up faster.”

Bobbi laughed gently. “You’re good. And really, if cuddling is this warming, maybe we should try kissing?”

Jemma stopped breathing for a second. “Bobbi, do you need to do some coming out of your own? Or is this just a curiosity thing?” If it was just a curious type of thing, Jemma didn’t know if she’d be strong enough to say no, and then they’d go back to class and Bobbi would date some hulking linebacker. It’d be terrible.

“I do?” Bobbi sounded puzzled. “I’m bi, really bi. I thought you knew. I thought that was why you were picking kind of a weird time to come out to me. Though if you like me frozen, you should see me on the rocks.”

“What?” Jemma felt lost.

“I kept wearing my unicorn shirts to class. For you. Or at least I did until you made me feel invisible and I started to think you must be het and secretly banging your lab partner. Seriously, it’s like you two are joined at the hip.”

Jemma groaned. “We’re smarter together, but obviously not that smart because I thought you just liked unicorns.” She hadn’t felt quite this dumb in a while.

Bobbi giggled, and her laugh was contagious, though Jemma’s turned into a bit of a moan as Bobbi’s hand slid down to her rear. “The question is, Jemma, do you like unicorns?”

“At least one.”

“Good enough.”

Bobbi’s mouth wasn’t as warm as it should be when their lips met, but Jemma was sure it soon would be. Friction was an excellent way to generate heat, after all. And tomorrow they’d hike out and go home, where they could be very warm and just as together. They’d simply have to do without that final sample.

Jemma pushed Bobbi onto her back and straddled her hips.

“I take it back,” Bobbi said. “You’re not just warm.” Bobbi cupped Jemma’s breast. “You are hot.”

Jemma paused, and then both she and Bobbi started laughing. Even Bobbi’s laughter felt wonderful.

Bobbi stroked Jemma’s cheek. “I promise my brain works better when I’m not warming up from hypothermia.”

“It has to. I still want that A you promised.”

“Is this how you treat all your patients? Your bedside manner is terrible.”

“See if I save you again.”

“Next time I get to save you.” Bobbi’s voice was soft, but her kisses were softer. And her body was heating up under Jemma’s, much to Jemma’s relief.

She smiled. “I think you already have.”


End file.
